This exquisite maquette was made before Susie MacMurray embarked on her impressive life-size 'Stalker'. Covered in delicate slithers of sliced deer antler Hart was essential for working out how to make 'Stalker' but quickly became a work in its own right.

Susie MacMurray's work explores the human condition and often focuses on our strength but also our vulnerability.
“If I’m brutally honest” MacMurray says “it’s a self-portrait. I’m building a protective shell in case I’m hurt by someone who I let get under my skin. I was first given the antlers for a commission I did at Attingham Park and have been using them on an off for a while now. However it was only recently when I experimented with slicing them up on the band saw that I realised how beautiful and intricate they are on the inside. For me they embody the human condition and I’ve been thinking a lot recently about that moment of quandary when we have to decide whether to advance or retreat. The danger and risk that our ancient ancestors took to hunt big beasts in fine balance with the necessity of survival and the essence of that enduring in our complex environment and the relationships we have today.”

Susie MacMurray is a British artist whose work includes drawing, sculpture and site-specific architectural installations. A former classical musician, she retrained as an artist, graduating with an MA in Fine Art in 2001. She lives in Manchester and has an international exhibition profile, showing regularly in the USA and Europe as well as in public institutions around the UK. Her work can be found in a number of prestigious museum and private collections. Recently MacMurray completed her commission ‘Witness’ at the National Justice Museum, Nottingham.